At the Christmas Eve pageant at St. Mary's Chaldean Church, the appearance of the baby Jesus (a blue-eyed doll in swaddling) got the biggest applause, but the Three Kings were also close to the worshipers' hearts. According to church lore, this land was home to the Wise Men who went in search of the newborn King. So when three little boys in paper crowns followed the star on a string to a cardboard Bethlehem, the congregation buzzed in recognition.

WASHINGTON -- The State Department condemned twin Christmas Day attacks on Christians in Iraq that killed at least 37 people. One car bomb, which killed at least 26 people, went off near a church in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad during Christmas Mass. Another bomb exploded in an outdoor market in another nearby Christian neighborhood, killing 11. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad said the Christian community in Iraq “has suffered deliberate and senseless targeting by terrorists for many years, as have other Iraqis.” It said it “condemns in the strongest terms” the attacks.

The surge of Christian Iraqis across the U.S.-Mexican border at San Ysidro that began Wednesday spotlights a new and little-known pathway into the United States--as well as a growing community of families fleeing religious oppression to San Diego. More than two dozen Iraqis trooped across the border into the hands of U.S. immigration officials Thursday, for a total of at least 77 who have turned themselves in at the San Ysidro port of entry in an apparent bid for asylum.

More than 1,700 Iraqi Christians crowded into separate church services Sunday to celebrate the release of 46 Iraqi immigrants from U.S. custody and call for the release of others being detained in Mexico. "It is difficult to describe it," said 28-year-old Mufeed Yousif, one of 16 Chaldean Christians released by Immigration and Naturalization Service officials Saturday.

More than 1,700 Iraqi Christians crowded into separate church services Sunday to celebrate the release of 46 Iraqi immigrants from U.S. custody and call for the release of others being detained in Mexico. "It is difficult to describe it," said 28-year-old Mufeed Yousif, one of 16 Chaldean Christians released by Immigration and Naturalization Service officials Saturday.

WASHINGTON -- The State Department condemned twin Christmas Day attacks on Christians in Iraq that killed at least 37 people. One car bomb, which killed at least 26 people, went off near a church in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad during Christmas Mass. Another bomb exploded in an outdoor market in another nearby Christian neighborhood, killing 11. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad said the Christian community in Iraq “has suffered deliberate and senseless targeting by terrorists for many years, as have other Iraqis.” It said it “condemns in the strongest terms” the attacks.

President Saddam Hussein said Tuesday that U.N. weapons inspections, if fair, would expose American "lies" and prove that Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction. In a Christmas Eve message read on state television, he also said that an "American-Zionist campaign" was being launched and that the threat of a large-scale military campaign was growing. He questioned whether a U.N. Security Council resolution to disarm Iraq would proceed as intended.

For many Iraqi Christians, the Persian Gulf War never ended. So says a new report by U.S. Catholic refugee officials. The report cites a "pervasive pattern" of discrimination against Christians in Iraq and in Turkish refugee camps. "For Christians, it's a lose-lose situation," says the report by Migration and Refugee Services, an arm of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

One of the saddest unintended consequences of the U.S. invasion of Iraq has been the progressive de-Christianization of the country, home to churches that trace their lineage to the earliest days of the religion. In reporting on Christmas Day bombings in Christian areas of Baghdad, the New York Times noted that there were 1.5 million Christians in Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 but that the number is now half that. The attrition of the Christian population may not have been foreseen by President George W. Bush (who, ironically, was suspected by some Muslims of plotting a literal "crusade" in the region)

Re "President Bush's Wag-the-Dog Policy on Iraq," Commentary, May 7: I am a lifetime liberal and a frequent fan of Robert Scheer, but at times I wonder to what planet he has moved. Saddam Hussein must be removed before he does great damage to the world. Whether he was involved in Sept. 11--and the evidence seems to show that he wasn't--is irrelevant. He exports terror and dreams of the day when he can do worse. I can sympathize with Scheer's desire to expose a political motive behind the Bush hardliners' campaign, but whether I like them or not--and I don't--in this case they are right.

The surge of Christian Iraqis across the U.S.-Mexican border at San Ysidro that began Wednesday spotlights a new and little-known pathway into the United States--as well as a growing community of families fleeing religious oppression to San Diego. More than two dozen Iraqis trooped across the border into the hands of U.S. immigration officials Thursday, for a total of at least 77 who have turned themselves in at the San Ysidro port of entry in an apparent bid for asylum.

At the Christmas Eve pageant at St. Mary's Chaldean Church, the appearance of the baby Jesus (a blue-eyed doll in swaddling) got the biggest applause, but the Three Kings were also close to the worshipers' hearts. According to church lore, this land was home to the Wise Men who went in search of the newborn King. So when three little boys in paper crowns followed the star on a string to a cardboard Bethlehem, the congregation buzzed in recognition.

Freed after three days in Mexican custody, Faruz Toma and nearly two dozen fellow Iraqis stepped onto U.S. soil Saturday, visibly relieved to be able to continue their quest for asylum in the United States. "Thank you! Thank you very much!" Toma, 30, exulted on arriving at the San Ysidro border crossing. Trundling a small suitcase and wrestling with two plastic bags crammed with his family's belongings, he summarized his feelings in halting but succinct English. "Very happy," he said.

August 19, 2011 | By Robert J. Lopez and Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times

Sixty reputed members of an Iraqi drug-trafficking organization in El Cajon have been arrested and authorities seized more than $630,000 in cash, 3,500 pounds of marijuana, dozens of high-powered firearms and several explosive devices, law enforcement officials said Thursday. The organization was run out of a social club and has suspected links to the ruthless Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico and an Iraqi organized crime syndicate in Detroit, according to law enforcement officials. The social club, located on East Main Street, has been a "hub of criminal activity conducted by Iraqi organized crime," El Cajon police Chief Pat Sprecco said.